Systems are available that allow an individual to search for information and conduct transactions. For example, an individual may use a web browser application to search for information stored on web servers in the form of web pages. Additionally, a web browser application can be used to conduct transactions (such as bank transactions) across the Internet. Various other types of systems and applications may be used to search for information and conduct transactions.
When an individual is searching for specific information or executing a transaction, the web pages or other information sources may not provide the specific information desired by the individual. In this situation, the individual may continue searching other information sources using the same searching system or application. Alternatively, the individual may attempt to search for the desired information using a different searching system or application. For example, if the individual is unable to locate the desired information at a particular web site, the individual may try searching at a different web site or may try searching through product brochures for the desired information.
These existing systems typically provide minimal feedback to the source of the information (e.g., the organization responsible for the web server or web page) regarding the success or failure of the individual's search results. Generally, the individual does not have any options for assistance except by initiating a communication (such as a telephone call) to the organization responsible for the web page or by searching at another information source. If the individual contacts the organization responsible for the web server or web page, the representative of the organization will initially be unfamiliar with the information already obtained by the individual. Additionally, the representative will initially be unfamiliar with the number of web pages viewed and the time spent viewing each web page. Further, the representative that receives the telephone call may not have the required knowledge or expertise to provide the required information to the individual. In this situation, the individual may need to talk to another representative having the appropriate knowledge and expertise. This procedure can be tedious and time-consuming for the individual.
One method of tracking web server and other information source accesses involves logging the occurrence of an access and the identity of the resource accessed. If the resource is static, the representative has a record of which resources were accessed and can recreate the access in order to aid the individual, for example, by viewing the static results of the access while communicating with the individual. The representative may still have no information on the length of time or number of times that the static resource (e.g., a static web page) was visited. In the case of a dynamic resource (e.g., a dynamically generated web page) the representative is additionally unlikely to be able to recreate or analyze the accessed information.